The mild reservationists and the League of Nations controversy in the Senate / Herbert F. Margulies.

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, [1989]

©1989

JX1975 M337

082620693X (alk. paper)

xiv, 300 pages ; 24 cm

(OCoLC)19263282

"During the years 1919-1920, President Woodrow Wilson unsuccessfully struggled to persuade the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and thereby bring the United States into the newly created League of Nations. In considering the defeat of the treaty in the Senate, historical attention is usually directed toward Wilson and his ardent opposition, Republican Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge and the "irreconcilables". Such studies tend to neglect the mild reservationists, ten Republican senators who played a prominent part during this decisive period. Relying on manuscript and newspaper sources, the author argues that, far from being excessively timid and sharing the blame for the League's rejection, as some have contended, the mild reservationists acted effectively to promote approval of the treaty. Failures of judgement by Wilson and the reluctance of Senate Democratic leaders to break with him frustrated their efforts. Margulies aims to provide an analysis of the ratification controversy and hopes to provide fresh insights into this crucial time in America's political past."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-290) and index.

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